The Global City and the History of Migration and Multilingualism in Britain and London

Abstract

In this chapter, my aim is to situate the reader as regards the precise sociohistorical and geographical context of the stories told in Chapters 5–8. I do this by expanding on the two main themes discussed in Chapter 1, that is globalization and migration. With the discussion of globalization as a backdrop, I begin with an examination of the phenomenon of global cities, arguing that when all is said and done, there are perhaps just three cities in the world that merit this qualification: London, New York and Paris. With the general discussion of migration as a backdrop, I examine the history of migration to Britain as a whole, and London, in particular. I also examine two alternative ways of charting migration, by country of origin and languages spoken. I end this chapter by making the case that while there has been fairly extensive coverage of some of the larger and more established immigrant groups in London and their language practices, what is lacking is a consideration of more recent arrivals to London.